The Alaskan air is cold and uninviting, but I have to get some work tonight if I want money to eat tomorrow. There was a time where walking the streets wasn’t a necessity; hell, there was a time where all I had to do was look at a man a certain way to make his dick hard. But because of the bullshit I’ve spent a year or two ramming up my veins I’ve lost my appeal.

I hate that I look no better than the junkie whore that’ll give a blow job for five dollars, and I hate that sometimes that’s the only price I can fetch for a full-on fuck. Hopefully tonight I can get at least fifty dollars. As my worn-down heels crunch along the cool pavement, I can feel my luck already changing.

There’s a man watching me from his car.

He has been for the past hour, and it’s why I’ve stayed on this particular block. I feel like a fucking fool walking back and forth, parading myself in front of the lone car on the street, but if he weren’t interested, he would have left by now.

Maybe he doesn’t mind that I’m not as pretty as I used to be. Maybe he doesn’t care that I don’t look like Honey Bee on the next block. Maybe he just wants to use me for the night, and I’m quite alright with that — as long as he’s got more than five dollars.

I decide to stop walking in the middle of the block and hike my skirt up enough to show off my thigh tattoo. My knee-high boots always make my legs look longer when my skirt is higher up, but I really wear them to cover the tears in my fishnet stockings. I proceed to rummage around in my small clutch for a cigarette, not that I have any, but perhaps he’s just waiting for an opportunity in which I’m not being so blatant about selling my cunt and then he’ll finally approach me. If he doesn’t, I’ll just leave this block and go chat with Honey. She likes me, so there’s always a good chance that if she hooks a John tonight, she’ll let me tag along and I’ll earn some money. We’ve done that before, the two of us. She sets a price for her and charges an extra hundred bucks to ‘bring along a friend.’ She gives me the hundred, tells me that I’m far too pretty to be on the street, and that I’ll go back to my “junkie ways if I don’t find a hobby soon.”

She may be right, but I haven’t touched that shit in almost six months and I still can’t think of anything better to do with my time. I wonder if I’ll ever get myself off the streets before I wind up just another dead whore in a dark alleyway. Some days, even that doesn’t sound so bad.

The sound of a car door opening then closing makes me smile. I guess he’s one of the shy ones that needs me to be distracted before he has the balls to approach me. That’s just fine with me. The shy ones are usually nicer, and I can usually set a higher price because this isn’t something they do very often. They just get lonely and need someone to talk to for the most part—that or a quick handjob and they’re on their way.

I keep my eyes inside of my almost empty clutch and wait to glance up until he stops right in front of me. I smile at him as seductively as I can in this biting cold weather, and I am honestly surprised when my fingers brush against a lone, half smoked cigarette at the bottom of my bag.

“Got a light?” I ask him, placing the stub between my teeth and giving him the once over.

He’s not bad looking. Big black-framed glasses rest on a kind face, and he’s got that James Dean bad boy thing going on with his hair. He’s dressed warmly and much more appropriately than I am for the night. As I reach forward to run a hand down the interior of his black bomber jacket, he smiles slightly.

“Sorry. I don’t smoke,” he murmurs, running a hand back through his hair.

“I guess I don’t either then,” I say as I flick the stub into the street. I close my clutch quickly and pull my skirt back down. Now that I have his attention I don’t need to show him anymore than he’s willing to pay for.

His eyes wander down to my hand and he chuckles softly. “What’s your name?”

“Burgundy,” I reply.

“Because of your lipstick, right? No. I want your real name,” he responds, his tone changing slightly.

“I don’t tell my real name,” I reply, rolling my eyes.

“Then I guess I’ll move down the block,” he states with a nod, turning on his heel to head back to his car.

I bite my lip for a second as I watch Mr. Fancy Jacket stuff his hands into his pockets and walk away. If he can afford a coat like that, then he definitely has more than five dollars to burn.

“Wait!” I call out, quickly following him into the street.

He turns and raises an eyebrow. He’s reached his car by now, and he leans patiently against the hood while waiting for me to catch up to him.

“Why?” I ask curiously.

“I just like to know who I’m dealing with,” he replies with a simple shrug. One of his hands reappears to push his glasses back up the bridge of his nose, before he again places it in his pocket.

I sigh and stick my clutch under my arm. I don’t like telling anyone my real name because that makes business too personal. Even Honey Bee doesn’t know it. I don’t know hers either, now that I think about it, but that’s because we both know where to draw the line on shit like this.

“What’s yours?” I ask, crossing my arms over my chest.

“Lowell,” he replies with a bright smile spreading across his face. It figures—a nerdy name for a somewhat hot, nerdy guy.

“Cessi,” I concede quietly.

“Was that really so hard?” he asks as his smile transforms into a wide, sexy grin.

I shrug and glance into his car. It’s clean and neat, much like his appearance, and I bet it’s warmer in there than it is out here.

“What are you looking for tonight?” I ask, turning my attention back to his big, brown, soul catching eyes.

“Lowell,” he finishes.

“What?” I ask in confusion.

“’What are you looking for tonight, Lowell.’ It’s quite alright with me if you call me by my name and for now, I’ll call you ‘Burgundy’, until you feel it’s alright for me to address you otherwise,” he says warmly.

“Okay,” I reply indifferently. At this point, I could give two shits if he has money. He seems to be playing games and that’s making me rethink this entire thing.

“I want to know if you’re willing to stay with me tonight,” he finally says, his persona slipping back into the shy man that first approached me.

“Always,” I reply with a big grin. “Just tell me what you’re into and we can get this show on the road, Lowell.”

He laughs and walks around the front of his car, to the passenger side, and opens the door. I raise an eyebrow at him and he motions for me to get inside. It seems that Lowell is quite the gentleman too. That’s not something I’m used to either. I’ve been beat up, fucked and tossed out of cars with no money, and robbed more than I’ve been paid. It appears that my luck may actually be changing, for tonight at least.

“Thank you,” I say to him as I follow his trek around the front of his car and slip into the passenger seat. He nods and closes the door firmly behind me before he makes his way back toward the driver side and gets in.

I wait patiently while he fishes around in his pocket for the keys, slides them into the ignition, and turns the car on.

“It shouldn’t take too long to warm back up. I’ve had it on the entire time I was—,” he cuts himself off and laughs nervously.

Watching me, I finish in silence for him. Since he’s being nice to me, I don’t want to embarrass him or scare him off.

“Here. Put your hands in front of the vents. You’ll warm up faster that way,” he says as he nervously reaches for my wrists and holds them close to the lukewarm air that’s blowing softly into the car.

“Thanks.”

I rub my hands together in front of the vents and like he promised, the car is almost completely warmed up.

“No problem,” he says as he puts his hands on the steering wheel and gently begins to drum his fingers against it. “So, not to sound like a total jerk right now, but um, how much?”

“Depends on what you want. A blowjob is twenty and so is a handjob. Sex is a hundred and anal is an extra seventy-five,” I reply nervously. I’ve never charged that much for anything before, but I don’t think he’s done this before either. Maybe I should have told him higher prices.

Leaning back against his seat, he lets out a laugh. He’s still nervous but I’m all business now and if he wants me to ‘stay’ with him tonight, then he’s going to ante up and keep me off the streets for a few days.

“Tell you what,” he begins as he turns to face me. “I have a better offer for you.”

“This isn’t a negotiation,” I snap at him. “Either you have the money or you don’t. Also, I’ll be needing to see it before we do anything, so pick your poison and let’s do it.”

He blinks in rapid succession, mouth hanging slightly open, as he holds his hands up. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t—wow. You must think that I’m a total asshole. I wasn’t going to try to talk you down, I was going to try to offer you more.”

“How much more?” I ask suspiciously.

“You know, for a second there, I thought you were going to bite my head off,” he says, pulling on the collar of his shirt.

“How much?” I repeat, ignoring his boyish clumsiness.

He sighs and leans back in his seat again, glancing out the driver’s side window. “How much do you think you’re really worth?”

“A lot more than anyone is willing to pay,” I grumble. I find my mood starting to sour and realize that maybe I don’t need a night with a nice guy. Maybe I need to be roughed up by a bastard that’ll at least throw a twenty at me for a full-on fuck and ride away with the rest of what I was promised. It would be a hell of a lot less painful to my soul that way.

“Okay, well, allow me to make an offer. And if this isn’t what you were thinking, then by all means, feel free to counter me.” He leans to the side and pulls his wallet out of his pants pocket. Clearing his throat, Lowell opens the wallet wide enough for me to see the endless amount of bills inside, and licking the tip of his thumb, counts out ten bills and sets them on the dashboard.

“For every night you stay with me, I’ll pay you this same price,” he says, glancing at me.

I furrow my brow and lean forward to look at the money. The one on top is a Ben Franklin, and as I reach forward to fan out the rest of the money, I can feel myself becoming light-headed. They all are. He’s tossed one thousand fucking dollars onto the dashboard and he’s offering it to me just to fuck him for a few nights.

The survivalist in me is tempted to take the money and run, but the bleeding heart in me knows that he’d be disappointed. And more than likely hurt at being robbed like I’ve been so many times, I take my hand off the money and lean back in my seat.

“One thousand dollars. For each night I spend with you?” I confirm quietly.

“Correct,” he replies. “And let me assure you that this isn’t a joke, Burgundy. I’m sure you can tell by looking at me that I’m not used to being around beautiful women all the time—or ever really, so I’m willing to pay for the pleasure of your talents and company for as long as you can put up with me.”

I turn my eyes toward the windshield and think of the possibilities. With one thousand dollars, I can get off the streets for at least a month. With two, I wouldn’t have to work again for even longer, unless I wanted to. And with three, I could probably get a small studio apartment somewhere with a short lease and maybe some groceries to last me for a little bit.

“Deal.”

* * *

The ride back to Lowell’s place is a quiet one, which I’m fine with. I think we’ve said far too much to each other already, so I don’t mind the silence. To be honest, I don’t think he does either since his mood seems more upbeat now, instead of racked with nerves and fearful of possibly saying the wrong thing.

I clear my throat but don’t offer any words. I want to maintain the silence for as long as I can, but I also really want a fucking cigarette. I wonder if he’d be willing to stop at a gas station on the way back to his place, but unfortunately until he pays me, I can’t even afford a pot to piss in right now.

He reaches a hand over and gives my thigh a gentle, almost reassuring squeeze, and I glance over at him. His eyes are still on the road ahead of us, but I see a small smile creep up the corners of his lips. I want him to be comfortable with me so I reach over and rest a hand on top of his and return the gesture. Lowell uses a thumb to gently rub the arch of my hand before he pulls his away, placing it back on the steering wheel.

“That was nice. Thank you for that,” I say softly.

He glances at me, the smile a little wider and a little shyer on his face as he places the same hand that gently caressed mine on the console between us, palm up, extending an invitation to me.

I know I shouldn’t, but at this point it’s obvious that he’s no ordinary John, and this isn’t going to be a routine night, so I let my hand fall into his and turn my face away as he closes his firmly, but gently around it.

I guess that’s his way of saying I’m his, and he’s not wrong. Everything has a price—people included—and when you pay for something, you own it. Since I’m still very cautious about this entire situation, I’m considering myself lucky just to be rented for a while. I’m hoping that he won’t get sick of me after tonight, because I really would love my own little place. Short-term lease apartments are a dime a dozen in Fairbanks and I can’t help but think of the possibilities if I had somewhere to call my very own.

I should know better than to let myself think of the unattainable because that’s how I’ve been let down so many times before, but there’s something different about Lowell. Something inviting, if not mysterious, and I don’t think he’d be taking me back to his actual home unless he planned on keeping his word.

At least I hope not.

I let out a deep sigh and he begins to rub my hand with his thumb again. He can sense my tension, if not feel it, and he’s doing his best to help me relax. It’s funny how the tables have turned so quickly and even funnier how I can find such a small comfort in the hands of a stranger.

I have a good feeling about Lowell, and even though his generous offer remains to be seen on follow through, I think things will be okay for a little while now.

* * *

It takes about another hour to get to Lowell’s place and I find it kind of peculiar that he lives so far removed from town. I don’t let the thought sit as long as I should though, because he’s been nothing but nice to me so far, and I like him a little bit already.

He’s quiet, but nice. A little mysterious, but kind. He doesn’t seem to mind that I’m a hooker, and he’s the first John I’ve had in my years of doing this that treats me like an actual person. Not just pussy.

Instinct is telling me to grab the money and run as soon as he stops the car, like any smart trick would do in my situation, but his driveway is long and winding and it’s too dark for me to see a way out. My gut is telling me that this will not end in anything other than pain, yet the need for food and a home is enough to quiet the common sense that’s trying to help me see that this little deal we have may not be all it’s cracked up to be.

Besides, there’s nothing he can do to me that hasn’t been done before—violently or sexually. I’ll use my God-given talents on him, collect my due, and be on my way.

Everything else that happens between us will eventually fall away like all deeds born of ill intentions. That’s just how life is, and I’m used to it by now.

“You doing okay?” he asks as he brings the car slowly up the circular driveway.

I glance at him and nod before I turn my attention back to the layout in front of me. His house seems modest enough; a two-floor colonial style house. I can’t make out the color in this damn darkness, but I’m sure it’s a white or a pale shade of something.

But much like the person sitting next to me, I don’t really care about the outside. Sure, it’s nice to look at and it seems welcoming enough, however I’m more curious about the secrets that are hiding inside of it.

“Well. Here we are,” he says with a nervous laugh as he cuts the engine to the vehicle. “Let’s go inside and I’ll cook you something to eat first, okay?”

Dinner? I couldn’t help but smile at how hard Lowell seemed to be trying to impress me. Either that or he was so nervous he didn’t know how else to act right now. God, I hope he’s not a virgin. Not that I care, but he seems too damn sweet to have a professional punch his V-card for him.

“That sounds great!” I reply brightly.

He lets out a sigh of relief as he slips the keys to his car into his hand and exits the vehicle. I reach between my legs and grab my clutch firmly in my hand, while he opens my door and holds it open for me. I look up into his bright brown eyes and smile, making him turn a slight shade of red.

It actually makes me feel good that I still have enough charm left in me to make a man blush in my presence.

Something tells me that this night will shape up to be much more than I expect, and as I feel Lowell’s hand slip into mine, I can’t wait to see where it takes us.

* * *

“Hey, you’re not a vegetarian are you?” he calls out from the kitchen. It’s been about twenty minutes since he sat me down in his living room with a glass of red wine. Just like your lips, he had said with a smile when he handed it to me. “Cause if you are, I’m not gonna be of much use to you.”

“Nope! I’m really into meat,” I called back.

An amused laugh is his response, and it takes me a moment to figure out what was so funny about what I said. I roll my eyes and chuckle—the childish mind of a teenage boy trapped in the body of a man.

“Do you want some help?” I ask.

“Not right now, but thanks!” he replies.

You’re welcome, I think to myself. I take another sip of wine as I glance around the room. It’s nothing spectacular—a few pictures hanging on the wall, none of which are people. I find myself smiling at the fact that he likes to hang art in the place of family and decide that I’ll ask him about it later. My eyes continue to wander before they rest on the mantle above the fireplace. There’s a massive deer skull ordaining the wall directly above the fire. Curiously, I continue to look around the room and notice the smaller skulls of other animals, which tells me that he’s an avid hunter. Then again, in these parts, there’s not much one else can do with their time, and hunting can turn a good profit depending on if you go down to the trading posts.

Another thirty minutes of me sitting in the living room with a now empty glass of wine passes, before Lowell peeks his head in.

“Hungry?” he asks with a wide, friendly smile on his face.

“Famished,” I reply, getting to my feet and walking toward him. He grins and takes the empty glass from me and I follow him through the kitchen and into a small dining room just beyond. He sets the glass down at one end of the table and pulls my chair out for me. “Thank you.” As I sit he refills my glass before walking back out of the room again.

“Alright, I hope you like it. If you don’t, you’re not required to eat anything, but I thought since we’re gonna have a long night ahead of us, you might want some fuel for your body,” he says with a chuckle as he re-enters the room and sets a large platter with two huge, glistening steaks on them in the center of the table. “Um, hold on. There’s more.”

I raise an eyebrow at him as he leaves the room again, and as I eye the steaks my stomach lets out a loud growl. When the hell was the last time I ate, anyway? Too many days couldn’t have passed because I would have just robbed someone instead of working for the money.

“Okay, this is it. If it’s not enough, let me know and I’ll make something else,” he says returning to the room and setting a large ceramic bowl full to the brim with mashed potatoes in them. They smell like garlic and herb and I feel like a starving animal waiting for my master to tell me I can eat.

“Dig in,” he says as he settles into the seat at the opposite end of the table and smiles.

I don’t hesitate. I pick up my plate and knife, reach forward and stab the steak closest to me, dropping it onto my plate. Next, I grab the ceramic ladle that’s buried somewhere in mashed potato heaven and dump two scoops next to the steak before I lean back in my chair ready to devour my meal.

“Hey, Burgundy?” Lowell says suddenly. “Mind if we say grace first?”

My mouth is already wide open and the piece of steak I’ve cut myself is taunting me from the edge of my fork. I can taste the fucking thing from how close it is, but I decide that I can go ahead and wait five more minutes while he does his prayer mumbo jumbo.

I place my fork back down on the edge of the plate and fold my hands in front of me. A big smile spreads over his face as he does the same, bows his head, and closes his eyes.

“Since you’re the guest of this house, I’d like you to say grace please,” he says quietly.

I roll my eyes and groan internally as I try my best to remember a prayer—any prayer—from my days at private school.

“Bless this food and the man that prepared it. May both be a rich source of nourishment,” I say, stumbling over my words.

Lowell chuckles, and when I open my eyes, I can see the amusement dancing on his face.

“Amen.”

* * *

“God, I’m so full right now. That was an amazing dinner. Probably the best I’ve eaten in years. Thank you, Lowell,” I say as I pat my belly.

“You’re welcome. I’m glad I could do that for you,” he replies, a smirk on his handsome face. “So, let me get this cleaned up and then we can go downstairs, okay? That’s where I would like this to take place if that’s alright with you.”

The basement?

“Sure. Wherever you want,” I reply indifferently, with a sweet smile. For the moment, he’s my benefactor so if he wanted to hitch up a wagon and throw some hay in it, I’d still be willing to fuck him for the amount of money he promised me.

Lowell nods and grabs the platter first, then returns for the ceramic bowl. I can hear him in the kitchen moving around for a bit as I lean back in the chair and close my eyes. I let out a content sigh as I think of how my life is finally heading in the right direction. I can’t wait to get off the streets, so maybe I’ll stay here for a week and get a good little investment going. Maybe he’ll let me stay longer—time will tell, I guess.

“Hey,” the voice comes.

“Huh?” I open my eyes, unaware of the fact that I had apparently managed to doze off for a few moments, but Lowell’s kind smile tells me that he didn’t mind.

“You about ready?”

I reach up and use the back of my hand to wipe my mouth, praying that I didn’t drool on myself during my impromptu nap and nod. “Yeah. Sorry about that,” I say nervously.

“Oh, it’s okay. I usually take a nap after I eat too,” he replies with a mischievous gleam in his eyes. “Come on.”

I nod and get to my feet and follow him into the kitchen where I see a metal tray prepared with food and I raise an eyebrow curiously. Lowell grabs it and continues to walk back toward the living room. I’m not exactly sure where the entrance to downstairs is but I’m damn sure it’s not in there.

Of course, he manages to prove me wrong once again as he walks toward the large bookcase sitting on the far left wall and opens a slender door next to it. I hadn’t noticed it because I wasn’t looking for something so secretive, and I can feel something in the pit of my stomach again making me nervous.

A quick glance at me over his shoulder to make sure I’ve followed him this far, and he smiles, steps back, and motions for me to enter the room first. I linger for a moment in the middle of the living room, wringing my hands, before I remember that this will be easy money. I square my shoulders.

“Thank you,” I say to him as I walk past, and he nods in return. There’s a small landing and some wooden steps in front of me now that seem to get wider the lower they go, but I can’t see too far down because it’s dark downstairs.

“Just hold on to the railing and you’ll be okay, Burgundy,” Lowell says quietly, as he gives me a gentle shove with one hand, then pulls the door closed behind us.

Any chance of stopping now is out of the question because I’d have to get by him to do it — and he’s already guiding me down the stairs while balancing the tray of food in the other hand.

Once we’re at the bottom, he grabs me by the elbow and pulls me back toward him.

A shrill whistle escapes from his lips and he whispers, “Listen and be patient.”

And that’s when I hear it.

The ominous scraping sound of a chain rustling along the cold pavement echoes throughout the large room. There’s someone hiding in the darkness of this make-shift dungeon and I’m afraid. Is this the fate that’s going to befall me too? Am I fast enough to get away? Can I suddenly produce the right words and speak with a silver tongue to escape?

“I—”

“I’m not paying you to talk now,” Lowell interrupts calmly. “I’m paying you to fuck. But first we have to feed the animal, don’t we? Here; take this tray to him. He won’t harm you. Not if he wants to see another day.”

My hands are shaking to the point that I’m terrified that I’m going to drop the tray before I can get a firm grip on it. Something tells me that Lowell is more Robert Hansen than James Dean and I’m fucked in more ways than he’s let on.

“Come on, Cessi. We don’t have all night and he’s probably hungry. He hasn’t eaten in a while,” Lowell says as patiently as he can. Reaching forward, he takes one of my hands and secures it on the metal tray. Once he’s sure I’ve got a good grip on it, he repeats the process with my other hand, then turns me and gives me a gentle push into the abyss.

Is there really an animal waiting for me, or is it something else? I don’t want to fuck animals and even Lowell can’t be this damn depraved, can he? I won’t do it; no matter how much money he waves at me, no matter how much I promised him that I would stay with him for more than one night; I won’t fucking do it.

“Good girl. Just walk straight and he’ll meet you halfway,” Lowell says with a sigh. I can hear him turn on his heel and clear his throat as he sits down on the bottom wooden step of the cellar, his eyes boring into my back.

I take two tedious steps forward and stop when I hear the chain rattle again. Oh God; if it’s a hungry animal, it’s sure to kill me before I can get close enough to feed it. Maybe I should just place the tray on the ground in two more steps and pray it can reach its food, but I don’t. Not when Lowell makes me an offer.

“Five hundred dollars just for walking all the way over to the other side of the room and giving the fucking thing its food,” he says in a bored, yet amused tone.

It’s the first time I’ve heard him speak in such a way, and it tells me that he’s becoming comfortable with this little game he’s roped me into. The same game that I’ve been so willing to play with thoughts of a place of my own dancing in my head. Material objects for my life—that’s how he’s set this up and I unwittingly swan-dived into his trap head-on.

“Are you gonna do it or are you gonna give up on the cash?” Lowell asks, blowing his breath out impatiently.

Is it worth it? To go into the unknown with my life for the taking against an animal I know nothing about?

The chains scrape along the floor again and Lowell chuckles. “You better hurry before he makes the decision for you. I should warn you though, if he does, you’re five hundred dollars poorer than you were when you got into my car.”

I grip the sides of the tray tightly and take another step into the darkness. The sound of metal against the dusty floor greets my ears again, but I need the money and if this is all I have to do for it, then I might as well get it over with.

Taking a deep breath, I make the rest of the walk quick work, place the tray down on the ground, and take a step back.

“Here,” I say quietly as I turn to walk away.

The movement is faster than anything I would have been able to see coming in the daylight had I been given that opportunity. A hand—a strong human hand—grips mine tightly and gives it a squeeze before letting go at Lowell’s command.

It’s not an animal that he has chained in the basement. It’s another fucking human being and the fact that he sees it as an animal scares me more than anything else in this world ever has.

I have to find a way to get out of here before I share the fate of whoever else has fallen into Lowell’s trap of wicked lies and deceitful monetary promises.

* * *

“You shouldn’t be so rigid right now. Relax, Cessi because once the animal is done eating, you’re gonna earn your first grand. Aren’t you excited? That’ll put you at fifteen hundred, and in case you’re wondering, I’m more than good for the money,” Lowell says casually as he clears his throat.

“What?” I ask feeling the world starting to spin around me.

“You’re gonna do what you get paid to do. Fuck,” he explains in a newly bored tone.

My hands are shaking as I wring them, trying to maintain my wits about me. I’m not sure exactly how much of a performance he expects out of me right now, and while I’m no stranger to having someone watch me when I’m working, I’m more concerned about the prospect of what he’s suggesting. Something tells me that Lowell isn’t offering himself up for the money—he’s offering his prisoner.

I run a hand back through my hair and stand quietly next to Lowell as the animal eats their food. I can almost hear it devouring the meal and wonder when the last time it ate. Was it like me? Had so much time passed since food last passed its lips that it couldn’t remember? Would this be the last meal either of us had?

Time passes slowly in this dark abyss and I’m praying that the animal slows down. I’m hoping beyond all hope that it’ll take its time at some point and remember to breathe between bites, but as quickly as it began eating, the tray is tossed in our direction.

“What have I told you about that?” Lowell asks into the darkness, moving the tray away with the edge of his foot. “The very least you can do is be grateful that I even remember you on the nights that I do. Anyway,” he says as he gets to his feet and wipes dust off on his jeans. “You’re gonna get dessert tonight.”

Lowell grabs me by the elbow and half drags me back toward the darkest corner of the room, pushing me into the unknown where I stumble and lose my footing. Luckily, the prisoner manages to catch me with their hands and keeps from crashing into the ground.

I can feel the steady, hot breath against the bare skin of my arm as it keeps me held tightly in its hands. No. Not ‘it’—this is a human being and not an animal; no matter how much Lowell insists.

“I’m gonna go upstairs and watch some television. Probably take that post-dinner nap too. I’ll be back later; hope you kids have fun,” Lowell says with a yawn as he picks the tray up from the ground. I can hear his footsteps retreating heavily on the wooden stairs as he makes his way back up to the first floor of his home leaving me here in the abyss.

The prisoner lets go of my arms as soon as the door to the basement opens and closes. They let their hands trail down my bare skin before dropping them to the ground. With a quiet sigh, I can hear the chain rattle again quietly and then feel the overwhelming presence of them standing up in front of me.

A hand that only moments ago held me so strongly, gently runs down the side of my face, and lifts my chin up toward a face I can’t quite see yet.

A low grunt escapes the same being with the gentle hands as I’m pushed away. I stumble backwards and gasp as the chains scrape the ground again. I can’t see the figure clearly, but I think it’s crouched down low to the ground again, wanting to be left alone.

“I’m sorry,” I say in a shaky voice. I hate speaking into the void because I know that someone is there with me, I just don’t know who—or what.

A low, deep sigh is the only answer that greets my ear for the moment and it worries me that Lowell has put me in a situation that he knows will end me. Maybe this was his plan the entire time. Perhaps he didn’t want me to survive more than a few hours and he doesn’t have any money to pay me even if I do manage to best the animal that’s lingering in the shadows.

“You don’t have to do this,” a voice suddenly says in a tone as soft as the hands that kept me from falling. It’s a man—I can tell that much now by the deepness of the tone and that puts me slightly at ease. Of course, that sense of ease dissipates just as quickly when I wonder how the hell Lowell got him down here.

He’s much more dangerous than I gave him credit for, and whatever happens tonight will be my own fault for trusting such an innocent face.

“Lie to him—tell him that we did; he’ll never know anything different,” he says to me, stepping closer. My heart is starting to race as he runs his hand gently down my neck, over my stomach, and slides an arm around my waist. “Or if you don’t think you can lie to him, I can be quick. I won’t hurt you regardless of what you decide. I’m not him.”

“What’s your name?” I ask him in a shaky voice. His body pressed so close to mine is making me tremble more than I did standing watch over Lowell and I can’t quite place why yet.

“It won’t do either of us any good to get too personal,” he says pulling away from me. “But if you need something to address me by, he calls me Stone.”

I take a step back and try to focus in the darkness—to see even the slightest glimpse of the man standing before me, but it’s damn near hopeless.

“Okay. Um. Well, I guess we should get this over with then,” I say quietly, as I bite my lip and reach down to pull my panties off. Even in the situation I’m in, I’m kind of glad that I had the mind to wear a skirt tonight.

Stone scoffs as he walks over to the wall, almost knocking me over on the way, then suddenly the room is semi-illuminated in the moonlight. I can see him now, naked as the day the is long, marks all over his body, like he’s been cut over and over again. He crosses his strong arms over his chest and smiles slightly when he sees that I’m frozen, half bent over, staring at his face. An animal he’s not, but I can completely understand why Lowell christened him ‘Stone’. He’s got the most beautiful, sleepy, light blue eyes I’ve ever seen, and his face is as strong as the rest of what I can see of him. A square, muscular jaw, a mischief that seems misplaced in our current state has a hold of his expression and it takes everything I have to finally tear my eyes away from him and finish pulling my panties off.

But it doesn’t escape me that he’s standing slightly turned so that I can’t see him completely yet and it’s making me nervous.

I bunch them up in my hand, looking around for a place to put them for now, when he holds his hand out. I look at it for a moment—open and outstretched, waiting patiently. I sigh and place my panties in his hand and he brings it up to his nose, inhaling deeply.

“It’s been so long since I’ve smelled a woman,” he says wistfully. “You’ll have to forgive me for a moment, but if you’re really thinking of doing this, I may take a little longer than I said—just to relish the taste of you.”

“It’s okay,” I say quietly as I smooth the hem of my skirt. “Um, so on the floor then?”

“Wait. I have to show you something first,” he replies seriously. “There’s a reason he calls me an animal and an even bigger reason he treats me like one. Come here.”

I stare at him for a moment. The last time I trusted someone so easily I ended up underneath their goddamn house with a man chained to a wall, instructed to fuck him.

“Listen, you’re going to have to trust me right now. It’s either me or Lowell at this point and believe me when I tell you, you do not want to let him take you into his bedroom. I’ve heard screams that fucking haunt me when I try to sleep. Which is probably why I barely do,” he admits with a tired laugh.

“What did you want to show me?” I ask, not taking a step toward him. I don’t trust either of them at this point, and honestly if I had to choose, well it’s better the devil you know, and the one that I somewhat know is upstairs somewhere.

“Alright,” Stone says, running a hand over his face. “Lowell likes to hurt things he finds beautiful—a lot; to the point of disfigurement. I don’t know why I’ve lasted so long, but the one that was here before looked like a nightmare compared to me.”

I raise an eyebrow and try to look him over, but he takes a step back into the shadows and I’m left with more questions and fear than I had before I could see him.

“There’s no way to soften the blow of this, so I’m going to step fully into the light. Don’t be afraid of me; I’ve already told you that I won’t hurt you.”

“Okay,” I reply shakily. I close my eyes. I don’t know why, but the child in me doesn’t want to see anymore monsters tonight, even though the woman in me knows that I have no say in the matter.

“It’s okay to look at me,” he says in a gentle tone. He sounds almost kind, as if he wants to make this easier on me than him. As if he’s accepted his fate and is trying to help me accept mine, but I refuse to be just another chained beast kept hidden from the world until I’m ready to be put to use.

“You haven’t told me your name yet.” The chain rattles quietly as he gathers it in his hand; metal upon metal made to hold this man in place until his master deems him worthy to be free.

“Cessi,” I reply quietly, my eyes still closed tightly. I don’t feel that I have to lie to him and hide behind the façade that’s Burgundy when he’s so willing to expose himself to me.

Body and soul.

“Cessi,” he echoes softly. “I like it. It’s as pretty as you are. You can open your eyes now, Cessi; I’m in the light.”

I take a few, quick deep breaths, terrified of what I might see as I slowly begin to open my eyes. I make sure to keep my eyes as level as they were before I closed them so now, at the very least, I’ll be looking at his chest when I finally find the courage to open them completely.

“Take your time. I’m not going anywhere,” he jokes with a soft laugh.

I return his laugh in spite of myself, because it’s the truth; neither of us are going anywhere. Not until we die first or Lowell decides we can, and considering I’m not a gambling type of gal, I know better than to hold my breath for the latter.

I sigh and begin to open my eyes deciding that the worse of the two torments I’m facing right now is plunging myself back into voluntary darkness.

The first thing I see is the marks on his bare chest. They’re angry; vicious, almost like he’s been clawed, and it’s enough to make me weak in the knees. Not the way he probably would have hoped, but in the manner that I know is befitting of the situation we’ve found ourselves in.

“Look up at my face first; it’ll be easier that way,” Stone says softly.

I can see that he’s breathing a little harder as I do what I’m commanded and let my eyes trail up to his neck. That’s the source of the chain; a thick collar sits around the flesh of his throat and it holds him in the place where Lowell has set him to rot and die.

The left side of his face is majestic and strong, but now that I can see him completely, I can’t help but take a step back in fear.

“I told you; he likes to mutilate beautiful things,” Stone reminds me with a soft chuckle and a shrug.

The right side of his face—it looks like he’s the victim of an unwanted acid bath. His skin is shriveled and his eye isn’t as blue as the other, it almost looks white. He watches my face carefully with his dead eye and smiles slightly.

“I wish I could say that’s the worst of it,” he begins quietly, “but I need you to look at my hands now—and when you’re ready, I’ll move them away.”

In this moment, I can say that I finally understand the power of subliminal messages. He’s hiding something behind his hands, something more horrendous than his face, and it’s causing me to wring mine viciously. I have to make myself stop because I’m twisting my hands so violently, that I’ll break the bones if I don’t stop soon. But I know that what he’s protecting so valiantly right now is meant to shock me and potentially scare me out of a hell of a lot of money. I won’t give in as easily as Lowell wants me to—not with my simple dreams sitting so close at hand.

I need this money and I’ll do whatever I have to do in order to get it.

I use the back of my hand to wipe away the perspiration from my mouth and nod. “I’m ready.”

He hesitates for a moment, and I can sense his embarrassment before he slowly begins to move his hands away. My eyes aren’t focused, so it doesn’t dawn on me right away what he’s been hiding until he takes a step closer to me.

The light illuminates his body almost completely now and I take a deep breath, biting down my tongue, careful not to react in a boorish way.

“This is why he calls me an animal,” Stone says quietly as he crosses his arms tightly over his chest, “and why he treats me like one.”

“Does it… does it hurt?” I finally ask in a hushed tone.

“Not anymore.”

I nod and turn my face away as Stone steps back into the darkness. He makes his way back toward the window and fixes the makeshift curtain back into place. The small hope of escape, the slight glimmer of light we had, is gone now as his chains rattle again and he lowers his body in a huff back to the ground.

“So, if you’d rather lie to him now, I understand,” he says with an amused laugh.

I close my eyes tightly praying for the void to swallow me whole, but I can still see it. It’s clearer to me now that I’m trying to shake it from my mind and I can’t help but feel some pity for the man being held prisoner.

His dick—or what used to be his dick—has been viciously disfigured. Most of it is skinned and the very end has been shaped into something reminiscent of a wild beast. It’s not smooth and shaped as a man’s should be, instead it’s raw, with a crescent shaped tip, and I’d be surprised if it still worked.

“You’re afraid of me now, aren’t you?” he asks quietly.

“No,” I reply truthfully. “I’m afraid of Lowell.”

“Smart girl,” he says, his voice barely above a whisper. “I wasn’t when he brought me here, and this is my reward. I fought back—tried to win my freedom, but the master of the house doesn’t like that. He’ll change you; shape your body into what he feels your inside looks like, and just when you think he’s done with you, the worst is yet to come, my dear Cessi.”

How could it possibly get worse than this? The instant the thought forms in my head, I regret it. I’m still in one piece and Stone is damn near hacked to pieces and reformed into something that I can’t quite understand.

“You know, there was a time when I used to think that the worst feeling in the world was being used, but it’s not. It’s being wanted—really wanted—by a madman,” he says thoughtfully.

“Used?” I repeat in a shaky tone. I open my eyes again only to find nothing but the dark and resign myself to the fact that until Lowell feels that we’re worthy of seeing the light of day again, I’ll have to make the best of the unknown.

“Mhm.”

“What do you mean by used, Stone?” I ask quietly. I know exactly what he means, but if this is why I’m really here, I want to hear the words come from his lips.

“What did you do with your life, Cessi?” he asks, the chains scraping slightly as I assume he’s attempting to get comfortable.

“I… uh… I did—I mean do things. For money,” I respond meekly.

“Me too. That’s how he found me and the one that was here before me. Lowell has something against what we do for a living, but I was never a whore, you know?”

The way he says the word, with such disdain for what another chooses to do with their life, makes me feel even more worthless than I do trapped in Lowell’s personal Hell.

“Yes, I got paid for the pleasure of my company, but it very rarely ever ended in sex. I would only ever do it when I could tell that the person I was with was really lonely. And even then, I felt dirty for giving in just because I felt bad for them.” Stone lets out an amused laugh. “I will tell you though, that I’ve learned my lesson this time and I’ll never fuck someone out of pity again.”

“Did you and Lowell… um.” I’m wringing my hands again unable to say the word ‘fuck’ for some reason, to which Stone chuckles.

“Yes. We did. Just one time, though. I don’t discriminate, you know? A hole is a hole, and I’ll fuck anyone once, but after we were done, he got really quiet and kinda scary. Anyway, that’s a story for another day that I’ll hold on to, because I firmly believe that if we work together, we’ll be able to walk out of here.”

Stone clears his throat. “I hope that doesn’t deter you. If you still want to, I mean.”

I raise an eyebrow at the form sitting before me, firmly planted on the ground, and wonder what he thinks of me that I’d not want to fuck him only because he’s had sex with another man.

“I’m not shallow, but I’m not exactly in the mood for this right now,” I snap at him. I bite my lip and let out a sigh. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled at you. I’m just scared.”

“It’s okay. That goes away eventually too,” he replies with a knowing chuckle. “Anyway, we should probably either pretend we’ve fucked or get to it because he’ll be back soon to check on us, if he’s not already here.”

“What?” I ask, turning my head. And he is here. I can see his form sitting on the edge of the stairs again, watching us silently, but for how long? Does he know that we want our freedom? Does he know that we’re willing to bond together to get out of this place?

“I dropped the fork,” Lowell says quietly.

I clear my throat and move away from Stone on all fours, my hands blindly swiping at the dirty ground, attempting to find the fork. Maybe if I help him with something as menial as this, he’ll see that I’m not a bad person regardless of what I’ve chosen to do with my life.

“Don’t worry about it,” he says sharply. I rear back onto the heels of my boots and bite my lip. He sounds angry which means he’s more than likely heard most, if not all, of our clumsy planning.

The wooden stair creaks under Lowell’s weight as he moves away from it and I silently curse myself for not having noticed it when he came back down. Stone’s chains rub quietly together and I can already tell that he’s going to be of no help to me if I make a move against our master.

Lowell’s footsteps are quick and dull on the floor as he walks past me and illuminates the room with the moonlight that Stone had provided for us only a few moments before. I turn toward him and notice he’s watching my face carefully. I steal a glance at Stone who’s got one leg folded underneath him and his arms crossed over his chest, eyeing Lowell dangerously, a slight snarl on his lips.

It’s the animal that he’s meant to be—I can see it now, how quickly he changes his disposition in the presence of this dangerous man and how he plays up what he’s been molded into.

“Earn your money, whore,” Lowell says, nodding his head toward Stone. His eyes haven’t left me and I know that his words, as demeaning as they now seem, are meant to be taken seriously.

A single tear rolls down my cheek, because even with these two men in the room with me, I’ve never felt so alone before.

Lowering my head slightly, I wipe the tear away before I turn my eyes toward Stone. He’s still sneering, but it’s no longer aimed toward Lowell, and I can see the contempt he has for me because I’ve shown fear in a moment of weakness.

Lowell reaches down and grabs me roughly by the arm and begins to drag me toward Stone, tossing me into him when we’re close enough, then walking back to the stairs to get comfortable.

He’s here for the show and we’re the players in a wicked game that we foolishly volunteered for. We fell for the ruse, and now we must do as we’re told for his pleasure.

No. For the money I was so sure that I desperately needed.

Stone’s strong hands gently grip my arms as he attempts to steady me on my knees. I can feel the warmth of his breath so close to my cheek as he leans down and whispers to me that he’ll be quick. That I shouldn’t worry or be afraid because he doesn’t want to hurt me and he’ll do his best not to.

“Ready?” he asks softly, as he pushes my hair away from my face. I look up into his beautiful, damaged face and nod.

Stone shifts his weight as he gets to his knees and gently lowers me onto my back. He lets his hands softly run down my body, exploring as much as he can but not for our pleasure. It’s for the eyes of the bastard watching ever so carefully and waiting for his proverbial monkeys to start dancing.

Stone places his lips gently on my neck and my body begins to react almost immediately. I can feel my cunt becoming swollen and damp, ready for him to do what he must to see us through this night.

His hand slides gently between my legs, prying my thighs apart, as he kisses my neck again. It’s almost as if he cares about me and I have to be careful not to get lost in another lie. He moves his body on top of mine, lowering the weight of himself on top of me, as he brings his lips to mine and kisses me with a ferocious hunger.

I don’t know how to tell them that I charge extra for kissing, but somehow I don’t feel that this is the time for that, and instead I reach for his head and grip his hair tightly in my hands. I pull him away for a moment—I want to see the want in his eyes, the need, before I decide I’ll go through this. Even now, I want to feel like I’m wanted or I’ll shut down and he’ll be fucking a damn near corpse in my place.

He’s breathing heavily now, and behind us somewhere, I can hear the sound of Lowell unzipping his pants. I close my eyes tightly before I open them again and pull his face down to mine. If Stone is playing this as a charade, he’s doing enough of a damn good job that Lowell is buying it.

I’ll have to dance to keep us alive.

“It’s okay. Fuck me,” I whisper into his mouth.

And that’s all it takes. A simple reassurance that everything will be okay and that the sun will rise tomorrow for him to slide his disfigured cock inside of me.

Stones pushes deep inside of me and my warm, wet cunt hugs his cock tightly as he begins to fuck me passionately. A loud moan escapes from my lips as I dig my fingers into his scarred back. He reaches a hand up and tears away the fabric of my shirt, exposing my breasts, beginning to suckle as he continues to fuck me.

Lowell’s breathing has changed. It’s catching in his throat as he rubs his cock, his eyes ever on us. Watching as Stone has his way with me. In one moment, I’m on my back, eyes closed and lost in the rapture of the man on top of me, in the next I’m on my hands and knees as he grips my hips and enters me from behind.

“Holy shit,” he breathes in a thick voice as my tits bounce back and forth to the vicious rhythm that Stone has set for us. Our master gets to his feet and walks quickly toward us. I can hear Stone grunt for a moment as he’s jerked back and then the sounds of his slick tongue on Lowell’s dick.

He gags him at first and Stone almost loses his grip on me, but he begins to push into my hole again once he’s been properly introduced to the devious serenade. I can feel my release coming and my fingers begin to dig into the ground, grasping nothing more than dirt and air as Stone quickens his pace.

“Fuck.”

Lowell breathes out shakily and drops down to one knee. He’s finished and it’s up to us now to bring the encore to an end. But as I see his heaving body shaking next to my hands, I begin to lose sight of what my body wants.

Stone must sense it because he reaches forward, pulls my hair back, arching me toward him, and presses his sloppy, cum soaked lips against mine. I let myself savor the last few moments of Stone fucking me, the taste of Lowell on my mouth, as he slams into me one last time, filling me with his cum.

When he lets go of my hair, I fall forward onto my hands again and attempt to catch my breath. Nothing about what I’ve just done is worth any amount of money, but it is worth my life.

Stone gently pulls himself out of me and gives me a gentle shove away as his chains slide on the floor. He’s receding back into his dark corner now, hoping that we’ve pleased our captor, and I can’t help but find myself wishing he wasn’t so eager to get rid of me.

Lowell lets out a chuckle as he finally gets to his feet and zips his pants back up. I stay where I am, cum dripping out of my exposed hole, still on all fours waiting for his next command.

But there is none.

Instead, he fixes the rag back over the window and leaves us in the darkness; his boots echoing on their way back up the stairs and the door slamming on the first night in Hell.

* * *

When I wake up the next day, I’m not sure if it’s light or dark outside. It seems that while myself and Stone slept, Lowell had come down and done some renovations to the cellar. The curtain has been replaced by some piece of heavy wood, Stone has been restricted further in his place—bracelets of steel with another set of chains looped through them adorn his wrists, and yet I’m still free to move about.

I know it won’t last for long, because that’s not the point of this. I didn’t think the point would be to fuck someone other than Lowell, so it wouldn’t surprise me if I’m in for another day or evening of mind games.

“I was wondering when you would wake up,” Stone’s groggy voice says in the darkness.

I don’t reply; not right away because after the way he shoved me when he was done fucking me, I don’t feel that he’s earned the company of my words again.

“We talked about you, you know,” he says conversationally. I stop trying to pry the wooden panel away from the window and walk toward the stairs. Would it be too much to hope that maybe the door isn’t locked? Should I even dare to attempt to find out?

I set a foot uncertainly on the bottom step, but almost immediately pull back. This could be another trick—a test—and I won’t play for anything he isn’t willing to compensate me for.

“Don’t you want to know what we said?” Stone asks curiously. “Or at least what he said?”

I shake my head even though I know he can’t see my response, but I refuse to speak to him right now. He promised he wouldn’t hurt me, and while I’ve been through much worse physically, I’m sick with the feeling that I thought he cared.

Stupid girl; always looking for comfort in the arms of strangers.

It’s clear to me now that I hadn’t thought this through. I was swayed by the promise of my own personal little dreams of having a place to live and dismissed the obvious danger that was lurking behind Lowell’s eyes when he first approached me.

“Cessi? Can you hear me? I feel like I’m talking to a wall right now,” Stone complains in exasperation.

Because you are.

I turn toward him and stick my middle finger in the air. Even though he can’t see me, it’s nice to be able to tell him to fuck off.

“Oh, I see. You’re mad at me. Why? Cause you didn’t get to cum?” he asks. I can feel the smirk on his face, and it makes me angry, but I still say nothing to him. He’s desperate for conversation and he assumes that if he can sting me with his words, I’ll speak.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know why I said that. I’m just fucking losing my mind down here, you know? I hate that there’s someone in this room with me and not speaking. It’s like Lowell the first time he chained me down here and it’s starting to freak me out if you want me to be honest.”

He lets out a long, tired breath and I can hear the chains scrape along the ground as he gets to his feet. He grunts against his new restrictions and sighs.

“Will you at least come here and let me hold you? I know it won’t mean shit to you, but it’ll make me feel a little bit better about being in the dark—verbally and visually,” he finishes with a mumble.

His suggestion is cruel in the fact that he knows that I want to be needed. He felt it when he first laid down on top of me, with the first kiss placed so softly against my neck, he knew that I wanted nothing more than to feel wanted.

“Cessi? Please?”

I close my eyes and sigh. I’ve never had a man beg me to let them put their arms around me before and it strikes a nerve in me, but not in the way it should. If I let my guard down with Stone again, is it what Lowell wants? Will we have to dance for him again or will he even care?

I don’t want to do anything to anger him because he holds our lives in his hands and the slightest misstep can lead to our downfall.

Fuck.

I walk in a straight line, unable to see where I’m going. Stone rattles his chains again in an attempt to put his arms around me and I realize that I’ve walked much too far to the right. I turn to the left and hold my hands out, finally grazing his arm with my fingertips and move closer to his body.

“Thank you,” he whispers gently into my ear as he does his best to wrap his arms around me. Because of his newly acquired chains, he’s only able to hold me by the hips, but he pulls me closely against him and breathes deeply.

“Don’t be mad at me, okay? I say stupid shit when I’m nervous. Just… talk to me Cessi; all we’ve got is each other now,” he says, softly brushing his lips against my hair.

My heart races slightly as his words, but I quickly manage a way to calm myself. I have to be smart from here on out, and I have to realize that he’s only saying these things because of the situation we’re in. If Stone still looked like what I think he did before Lowell got a hold of him, he wouldn’t have given me a second glance on any other day in an ordinary life scenario.

He’s scared; even though he hasn’t said it, he has to be because I am too.

“What did he promise you?” I finally ask, breaking my vow of silence against Stone’s steadily heaving chest. “Money?”

“No,” he replies as he nuzzles his mouth against the top of my head. It’s almost as if he’s in a world of his own right now.

“Then what did you promise him?” I ask, taking a step away. Stone chuckles and attempts to pull me back into him, but I pull farther away and move just out of his reach.

He lets out a sigh and drops his hands to his sides. “What does anyone want? What do you want?”

“To be free,” I reply quietly.

“No. That’s not what I’m talking about. Don’t be in this moment, Cessi. Be outside of these walls walking the streets, looking into cars for a potential new client, and tell me what it is that you want.”

“I… I want to be loved,” I finally say, wiping away a stray tear.

“Bingo.”

It makes perfect sense to me now why a man Stone’s size would be so easily captured by such a silver tongue. He was promised a basic human emotion and he fell for it; like I had for the money.

“You know what’s consuming me?” he asks quietly. “I can’t help but think that maybe if this were a different time and place, that maybe we could have learned to love each other.”

Another lie.

Another blasphemous blow to my heart and I’m losing myself to his false hopes. The same hopes that Lowell bestowed on him once upon a time.

“No,” I reply, taking a deep breath. “Because I’m a whore and so are you. Whores don’t get to love; that’s not who we are.”

“Wow,” he replies with a chuckle. “That was harsh, and to think I had no idea that I could feel any worse than I already do. Okay. Well, that’s that, I guess.”

I raise an eyebrow.

Was this a test or a testament to how he could have felt about me? Nothing in this abyss makes sense anymore and I have yet to find the sliver of truth in all of the lies being hurled at me. Could it be that the one truth that was finally spoken, I managed to brush aside so brutishly?

It doesn’t matter.

This isn’t another time or place and we both know it. I have no choice but to chalk it up to simple conversation from a man conditioned for nothing more than depravity under the will of his owner and pray for a better outcome for myself.

“How long have you been down here?” I ask, changing the subject.

“Days, weeks, months… years. I don’t know. I stopped counting when he took away all the sharp objects I used to mark the time on my skin.”

“What?”

“Oh yeah; I forgot to tell you. The scratches you saw on my body? I did those. It was the only thing I could do to pass the time down here and it’s also how long I know I’ve survived. But my face and my dick? That was him when he figured out why I was bleeding from a new cut every time he came down here to feed me. That’s why I barely get meals anymore too. He doesn’t want me to mark myself anymore and when he does decide I’ve been a good enough boy to eat, he feeds me himself.”

“Not always,” I remind him quietly.

“Yeah to be honest, that took me by surprise, but I can tell that he likes you. If he didn’t he would have fucked you instead of my throat. I really hope he brings water down soon,” Stone says more to himself than me.

I rub the sides of my head and close my eyes tightly. Lowell is more complex than I could have imagined, but now I know that the day he sticks his cock inside of me, I’ll end up chained to a wall too. I have to be nice to him and I have to try to stay on his good side—if he even has one of those—to not end up like Stone.

“Fuck; shut up, he’s coming down,” Stone suddenly says, his chains rattling as the door at the top of the stairs opens.

Lowell descends the steps quickly and I move in the shadows back toward Stone, shrinking against the wall. In the blinding darkness, I reach a hand clumsily along the wall until my fingers find his and I lock our hands together.

Stone gives me a reassuring squeeze as he lowers himself as quietly as he can to the ground and lets a small growl slip from somewhere deep inside.

And just like that, he’s nothing more than an animal again.

“Cessi?” Lowell calls out in his quiet tone.

“I’m here,” I reply as a slight tremble starts to take hold of me. Stone squeezes my hand again, before he slides his fingers out of my grip, and gives me a gentle shove toward our master.

“Come to me, please. I’ve brought you some food,” Lowell says.

I let out a sigh of relief and begin to walk toward him. I wasn’t hungry until he mentioned it, but I also won’t eat unless I can share some of it with Stone. Even if it’s just scraps, he deserves food for his performance from the previous night.

“Thank you,” I say, when he grabs my wrist as I approach him. He steers me back toward the stairs and lowers me down, sitting next to me and waiting patiently for me to begin eating my meal.

“What’s the matter? You’re not hungry?” Lowell asks quietly. The plate has sat on my lap for no more than a moment and he’s already acting as if I’ve disappointed him.

“I was just wondering,” I begin slowly, “If I can share some of this with Stone.”

Lowell scoffs next to me and snatches the plate from my lap. I expect him to stomp up the stairs like a toddler throwing a temper tantrum, but instead he makes his way across the room and disappears further into the darkness.

“Open your mouth,” he barks. The scraping chains that have become as common as the air I now breathe fills my ears as Stone does as he’s told. Lowell comes back moments later, sits down in a huff, and damn near slams the plate back onto my lap.

“He’s had ‘some’. Now eat your fucking food before I throw it away,” he mumbles angrily.

* * *

Lowell stayed with me until I finished eating. He didn’t say anything, so I know it wasn’t for the conversation, but to make sure that I wouldn’t give Stone anymore than he had already given him.

Half of the plate is what was brought back to me and there’s no way that Stone was able to chew half of a baked chicken breast as quickly as Lowell returned from feeding him. It left me worrying about him, but I know that until Lowell left us alone, I wouldn’t be able to check on him.

When the door finally closes again and we’re left to ourselves, I get to my feet and quickly move straight toward the wall. I’m not sure how Lowell is able to navigate this abyss as easily as he does, but I still have yet to find my way around it without stumbling and landing on the wrong side of Stone.

“Are you okay?” I whisper urgently into the dark.

“Yeah.”

I missed him again, but just barely, so maybe I am getting used to the darkness. I lean over slightly to the left and when my hand finds the top of his head, I move toward Stone’s bent body and begin to rub his marred back.

“Really?” I inquire, trying to soothe him. His breaths are ragged and sharp, which is a sure fire sign that he’s lying.

“Yeah. I’ll be fine in a minute,” he replies, clearing his throat.

I continue to rub his back when he leans into me as much as he can, allowing me to put my arms around him and hold him close.

I do my best to steady him while trying to keep my heart hardened toward him, remembering that he’s fed me as many lies and fairy tales as Lowell has. Stone is much more dangerous than Lowell in that aspect; he’s tried to draw me into a world where we could have been normal people—lovers worthy of not being looked down on by society and never having to lie rigidly on our backs for anyone other than each other.

And I can’t trust him because of it. While it’s true for him that we only have each other, I have to stay a lone wolf if I want to survive this. I’ll be kind to him and I’ll make sure he’s okay, but I will not turn back for him if we get the chance to escape. I won’t leave him behind completely though; I’ll give him a fair chance too and I’ll make sure that he’ll be able to at least get up the stairs, but after that the rest will be up to him.

“Cessi?”

Stone’s voice breaks into my thoughts and I jump. Even though I’m still holding him, I had almost forgotten that he was here. It’s a good sign for me—it tells me that I’m already starting to disconnect from caring too deeply about him.

“There’s some shit I have to tell you,” he says seriously, pulling away from my arms. “And whether you choose to believe me is up to you.”

Oh God, now what?

“Okay,” I reply nervously as I move away from his side. I decide it’s best to sit in front of him, because even though I can’t see him clearly, I feel that it’s more respectful to be face to face with someone who wants to confess. “I’m ready.”

“Okay,” Stone says taking a deep breath. “Did you ever wonder why Lowell picked you? I’m sure there were a bunch of other ladies to choose from, but I bet he watched you for a while, didn’t he?”

I nod.

“I’ll assume you agreed. Anyway, he doesn’t really have a thing for hookers or escorts—he’s a good looking guy. He doesn’t need to pay for this; I’m sure we both have thought the same thing at some point. But the difference between Lowell and every other John you’ve had—every call that I’ve responded to—is that he was directed to pick us.”

“What?”

A wave of confusion rushes over me as I furrow my brow and tilt my head. None of what Stone has said so far makes sense, with the exception that he’s right about one thing. There was a time, when I first met Lowell, that I wondered why he chose me. I appreciated how handsome he is in his own way and I fell for his spurious kindness.

“Remember how I told you about the screams that I’ve heard? How they would keep me up at night, and how hard it is for me to sleep sometimes? Those were just practice for him—street workers that he was allowed to take to prepare for when he finally got the two of us trapped down here,” Stone says in a rushed voice.

I immediately begin to try to remember every person I’ve come in contact with in my life and desperately wonder who I’ve done so wrong that they’ve handed me over to this fate.

“Who did this to us?” I ask him quietly, still racking my memories. The last few years of my life have been nothing more than a blur of sex and money, with little time to communicate normally with someone who wasn’t willing to pay for the pleasure of my company.

“I’ve only seen her one time. He brought her down here the day after he shackled me to the wall. Beautiful bitch, that one. Long legs, wavy black hair, golden brown eyes. I could see the hatred in her eyes when she leaned down to get a better look at me and then they left. Lowell turned the light off and I’ve been in the darkness ever since—except for the couple of times the rag has been moved from the window, but that’s never happened until you got down here.”

My mouth is dry. I feel like I could cough and nothing but old, fallen leaves would spring from my throat coating us both in the frail pieces of the sign of dying nature.

There’s only one person that I know of that looks like that but I thought she cared about me and now I know the truth. The world that I live in is full of nothing but liars and deceitful monsters who hide so easily behind smiles and sugary sweet words.

“Okay,” I say quietly. “Try to get some rest while I figure out how to get these fucking chains off of you. We’re getting out of here tomorrow.”

Stone lets out a choked sob as he reaches for me and pulls me against his naked body. I let him hold me for his comfort and not my own, because by tomorrow evening one of us will most likely be dead.

* * *

I’ve been tied up a few times in my line of work—zip ties, belts, ties, hell, even my own stockings at some point, and I’ve always managed to get out of them. The chains are no different, it’s only more difficult to do because I can’t see where the loops are and have to use touch instead of sight to get Stone loose.

It takes me a lot longer than I’ve hoped and I won’t have time to sleep, but that’s okay. I don’t mind being wired, because I’m going to need to be able to outwit Lowell in order to get us out of here.

My body is trembling but it’s not because I’m scared; it’s because I’m angry. Someone I once considered my only friend in the world was nothing more than an enemy in thigh high boots and faux cheetah fur coats.

I try to stay as calm as I can while Stone sleeps quietly with his head in my lap. He’s free from his bonds of captivity and I’m hoping he’s as strong as his body says he is. We’re gonna need his strength to subdue Lowell when the time comes.

Stone shifts on my lap and continues breathing evenly. I run a hand gently over his hair, before I give him a soft shove. He needs to wake up now; Lowell will more than likely be making his nightly visit soon and we both need to be alert.

“Hey,” he finally says in a froggy tone. “Is it time?”

“He’ll be coming down soon, I think. I don’t know what his actual schedule for this kind of thing is, but I’m starting to get hungry so I’m using that to gauge the time.”

Stone nods, stretches his arms over his head, and sits up. “Wow. That actually felt nice to do.”

“What?” I ask him in confusion.

“Stretching. You never realize the simple little things you’ll miss doing until they’re taken from you,” he replies with a chuckle.

The door at the top of the stairs creaks slightly and Stone goes rigid beside me. I move away from him to the other side of the wall, like we planned, and wait. The plan is to wrap Lowell up in the same chains he used to bind Stone in and to make a run for it, but time will tell if something that sounds so easy to do can actually be done.

“Busy, busy little bees,” Lowell softly calls out, in a sing-song voice. “All night I’ve heard the chains moving. Have the two of you been fucking without me?”

I take a deep breath, fighting the urge to attack him because I have nothing to use against him except for my bare hands, and that won’t do.

“No. I’m sorry if we kept you up,” I say in a shaky voice. “I just wanted to make sure he was okay.”

“Right,” Lowell says incredulously as he reaches the bottom step. “Of course; where are my manners? Gotta make sure that the man whore is okay.”

Stone rattles the chains which is something that Lowell would expect to hear at this point and I swallow a sigh of relief. So far, he seems to be keeping up with his end of the plan.

Lowell lets out a long, suffering sigh. “Come here, Cessi. It’s time to eat.”

This is the moment that’s pivotal in the plan. I have to convince Lowell to come to me so that the path to the stairs is clear after Stone binds him.

“I’m not feeling too good, can you come to me, Lowell? Please?” I ask in my most pitiful voice.

“Sure. One sec,” he says. The stairs begin to creak again and I’m confused as to why Lowell’s leaving instead of coming further into the abyss, but when the room becomes brightly illuminated and he descends the stairs again, it all makes sense.

“I guess this is the part where I tell you some things,” he says casually, as he glances from me to Stone, then back again. “First of all, I’ve never closed that door. I bet you feel a little silly now, don’t you? Knowing that you could have just walked right out the door any time you wanted?” he taunts with a small smirk on his face. “Secondly, it wouldn’t have worked if you tried it anyway, because I like to sleep by the door and listen to the two of you; it’s really the only kind of human contact I have these days, so you should probably abandon your little plan of escaping. I heard the entire thing.”

I shoot a nervous glance toward Stone, who’s now crouched in his ‘animal’ stance and raises an eyebrow at me. He seems to be as taken aback as I am that we’ve let ourselves be fooled by someone like Lowell.

“The last thing I wanted to tell you is more of a surprise,” Lowell continues, as he pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose, then crosses his arms across his chest. He turns slightly toward the stairs and calls out, “You can come down now.”

Stone takes the moment of Lowell’s distraction and lunges at him. I run to where Stone had been chained against the wall and almost gag when I see that he’s had nowhere to relief himself other than where he’s been confined too and pick up the least soiled of the chains that I can and run to the side of the stairs while he struggles with Lowell. I know who’s coming down these stairs and I have every intention of giving her a warm welcome when she finally does.

“Fuck! Get off of me!” Lowell yells as Stone overpowers him and wraps a chain around his throat. In any other world, I would have begged him to stop the moment I saw Lowell’s face becoming a crimson shade of fast approaching death and unconsciousness.

“I’m gonna fucking kill you,” Stone grunts out through clenched teeth as he rolls onto his back and pulls Lowell on top of him.

“Cessi… help…” Lowell gasps out, reaching a hand toward me, but I refuse. I will not help the man that brought me into the darkest part of Hell with the intention of letting me rot here.

“Lowell?”

I close my eyes tightly for a moment and tighten the chain around my fist. As soon as she sets foot on the dusty, basement floor, I’m going to strangle her to death, and then Stone and I will be free of this nightmare.

“Oh my God!” she shrieks, as she runs the rest of the way down the stairs. She’s on Stone and Lowell, pulling at the chains, trying to get Stone to release them, but he kicks her away and pulls harder. Lowell’s glasses fall off of his face as his eyes fix on me. Life is a fickle thing—we never ask for it and yet one day, here we are. Born into a world that we know nothing of with only the certainty of Death looming before us, ready to strike at a moment’s notice.

And it’s with that knowledge that I charge out of my hiding spot next to the stairs and jump onto Honey Bee’s back as she struggles to get to her feet again. There’s a rage inside of me that I never knew I could feel and I use that maddening anger to wrap the chain around her neck and begin to pull.

“Wait… Cessi… wait,” she gasps out.

“Fuck you,” I grunt, as I pull harder. I’m lost in the cruel thoughts of what was done to Stone, of what was waiting for me when he died, and when Honey Bee goes limp against my body, I realize that I’ve gone way too far. Her neck has snapped and she goes limp against me, and as I push her off, I can’t help but laugh.

Of all the mistakes I’ve made in my life, this has to be the biggest one. I don’t know much about this cold, cruel world other than how to fuck when small amounts of money are tossed at me, and Stone made strangulation look so easy, but I still managed to fuck that up somehow.

“Get over here and help me,” Stone barks. I take one last look at Honey Bee’s lifeless body admiring my handiwork and rifle through her inner coat pockets, before I reach down to pull the chain off her neck then make my way toward Lowell and Stone.

I stand over the struggling men, watching as Lowell begins to give up his fight. He’s dying right before my eyes and there’s nothing more that I want to see happen, but not today.

Lowell looks up at me, tears streaming from his eyes, as I crouch down over their bodies and let my eyes wander to Stone. His eyes are closed as tightly as he’s pulling on Lowell’s neck, but they open again when I gently place my hand on his wrist.

“Let him go,” I say softly.

“What?” he asks, in bated breaths.

“Let him go,” I repeat as I lean down and being trying to pry his grip off of Lowell.

“No,” Stone says angrily, as he begins to tighten the chains as far as they will go.

“I don’t want to have to do this, but I will, Stone. Let him go,” I say, quietly raising Honey Bee’s small caliber handgun toward his forehead.

The look of disbelief on his face is met by a small smile that has now crept across my lips. I use my thumb to cock the gun and take a deep breath, closing one eye to focus my aim.

“Last chance,” I tell him quietly.

Stone lets out a defeated sigh as he finally releases his grip on the chains and Lowell rolls freely away from him breathing in air in loud gasps. I use my foot to gently nudge his glasses toward him and keep the gun trained on my knight in shining armor.

“On your feet,” I command him. Stone, still looking at me in disbelief, runs his hands back through his hair before he does as he’s told.

“What the fuck is going on right now, Cessi?” he asks me in an even tone, as he raises his hands in surrender.

“I don’t like your face,” I reply simply, tilting my head to the side. “Fix it.”

He shakes his head as he chuckles and crosses his arms over his chest defiantly. “You fix it,” he replies with a smirk.

I raise an eyebrow at him and wonder how he can still be so bold with the barrel of a gun staring him in the face, but I shrug and walk toward him. I lower the gun, pressing it against his bare abdomen in an effort to warn him against any brave actions, and run a hand gently over the right side of his face. The disfigured side, the unloved monstrous side of him, and dig my fingers into his skin. Stone smiles down at me as I begin to tear away the false flesh, exposing the beautiful man underneath. Once I’ve torn it all away, he turns his face and gently kisses the palm of my hand, before reaching up and taking out his contact lens.

“Better?” he asks, sliding his arms around my waist.

“Better,” I reply smiling shyly.

“What about him?” he asks, nodding toward Lowell. I turn my body around and fall against Stone, letting him hold me against him as Lowell watches us, eyes wide with fear, from the ground.

“Well, he has to die obviously, but not the way you were going about it. Do you like this place as much as I do? I haven’t seen much of it, but I think we could live here,” I say, leaning my head back against my partner.

“For now. I’ll find you a bigger place; a better place—one that you deserve,” he says gently running his hands up and down my arms.

“What… is…” Lowell coughs and puts a hand to his sore throat as he struggles to regain focus through his glasses.

“Going on?” Stone finishes for him. “You’re going to die and we’re going to take care of your place for a while.”

“In a nutshell,” I agree with a nod.

“Should we explain, babe?” Stone asks with a chuckle. I nod and he places his chin on my shoulder. “That number you called to get an escort for the evening? You dialed a wrong number and got me instead. I ran it by Cessi and she told me who you were—the pimp that’s taken most of her money and brutalized her on the nights you didn’t think she made enough. So when she told me she wanted to play a little game with you, I decided that I wanted in. We have a thing for role playing I guess you could say,” he explains matter of factly.

“You’ve had this coming for a long time and you know it, Lowell,” I add evenly. “When you agreed to play the part of the ‘sexy stranger’ to see what a night for me is really like, why it’s so goddamn hard sometimes for me to make money, I knew I had you right where I wanted you.”

Lowell rolls over onto all fours and looks up at us. “But… I thought…”

“That we didn’t know each other? It’s all part of the role playing, dumb ass,” I reply with a sneer on my face.

“Babe, why’d you kill Honey?” Stone asked suddenly.

“I don’t like the competition. She took a lot of Johns from me and pretended to be my friend when she thought they were too good for me or I need ‘a rest’,” I reply with a shrug.

“Makes sense,” Stone agrees.

“What to do with you,” I wonder, turning my attention back to Lowell. I gently shrug away from Stone’s grip and walk toward the young, handsome man with James Dean good looks and Robert Hansen intentions, and aim the gun at his head.

And suddenly, it hits me. I know exactly what to do with him.

“Let’s play a little game with him,” I say turning to Stone who’s patiently waiting for direction.

“Being?” he asks curiously.

“How about we chain him to the wall and let him rot in the fucking darkness like he did to you,” I say with a wide smile. “I think that’ll teach him not to shit where he eats.”

“This is why I love you,” Stone says, shaking his head and laughing. “On it.”

I keep the gun trained on Lowell as Stone roughly strips him naked, then drags him to the wall. He grabs him by the hair and slams his head back against the wall, placing the collar around his neck.

“Wanna give me a hand?” he asks, glancing at me over his shoulder. I nod and walk toward them, the gun trained on Lowell the entire way. If he gets any ideas, I’ll fucking shoot him dead and piss on his goddamn corpse.

When I reach them, I lean down and grab the chains that have been left by the wall and hand them to Stone, who quickly loops one through the hole in the back and then through an industrial sized loop that Lowell had inserted into the wall. Once he has his neck secured in place, he crouches down and places the large, metal cuffs around his wrists and again, loops the chains to hold him in place.

As soon as he completes his task, Stone leans toward Lowell’s face, growls and snaps his teeth at him. I giggle; sometimes he really gets into his roles and it takes me a while to break him out of them, but I’ve never met a more loyal person in my life.

“Hey; take that thing off your dick,” I say, suddenly remembering the prosthetic we made for him to wear. Because I know how Lowell likes to treat his new pets, it would only make sense to have him wear something to discourage him from wanting Stone more than the one time he actually did.

I never would have guessed that he likes dick as much as he likes pussy, I muse to myself as I glance at our new toy.

“How the tables have turned,” I say softly to him.

Lowell lets out a noise; something between a sob and a laugh, as he leans his head back against the wall and looks up at us.

“Alright. I get it; you’re pissed off, I would be too. Don’t you think this is taking it too far?” he asks, still attempting to steady his breathing.

“You really should shoot him. I’m sick of him already. Wait; do we have to feed him?” Stone asks, getting to his feet and pulling off the prosthetic. He tosses it at Lowell’s face, who turns away with angry tears streaming down his face.

“I’ll think about it, but I’m sure if he gets hungry enough he’ll find a way to get over to Honey Bee, don’t you?” I ask, giving him a meaningful glance.

“You are fucking wicked, Babe,” Stone replies with a laugh. “Come on, let’s go upstairs and see if we can make a home out of this shithole. I’m tired of looking at him and I wanna take a shower.”

He slips an arm around my waist and as we make our way toward the stairs, Lowell starts hurling angry insults at us. How we’ll never be anything more than whores, how we’ll get what’s coming to us, how people will come looking for him and Honey Bee.

And maybe he’s right. Maybe we will get what’s coming to us one day and maybe there will be a little search party for him and the Queen of Skid Row, but that day won’t come any time soon and when it does, we’ll be long gone by then looking for a new home in a new place.

That’s the thing about finding someone that’s as fucking crazy as you are; they’re always willing to play a game every now and then just to keep the romance alive.